Car Totaled

[tblech]

On Tuesday of this week, I was moving our bedroom into another room which is slightly larger. While toiling away I heard an auto crash outside then the dreaded realization that it must have, in some way, involved my own car when my car alarm went off. Scrambling to find my key fob I ran for the door to discover that a mid twenty something lost concentration and ran into the back of my Subaru sending it into the rear of my other car, an Olds 98, then spinning around 90 degrees and ending up in the side of the Olds.

Obviously she was not wearing her seat belt as she ended up going headfirst into her windshield where the glass was cracked and pushed out like a bowling ball had hit it. I knew it was her, and not one of the two dogs she claims distracted her, from the tuft of hair she left behind.

My insurance company came out to appraise the damages done and settled on a number of $12,700 to the Subaru and I didn't even ask about the Olds. The damages to both exceed the state maximum for considering a vehicle totaled(70% of wholesale value). When I talked to my insurance claims agent she asked me if I wanted to make a claim with them or with the other persons insurance company. I do not think it is fair to ask my insurance company to pay for the damages as I was at no fault in this accident. I would also have an increased premium and have to sacrifice my deductible.

Her insurance company eventually called and asked me where I wanted it fixed, nice try, I said, "Well my company says it is totaled". So now I must wait until they are able to send someone to evaluate the damages and come to the same conclusions, which they tell me won't be until the first of the week. I really hope it goes quickly. I have to use the damaged Olds until I am able to effect a replacement and won't be able to get the exhaust system fixed on the Olds until their company evaluates the damages. Hopefully I won't be arrested...

What sorts of insurance horror stories do you have along these lines?

 

[King of Kailua]

Poor girl

I hope she is alright considering she hadn't had a seatbelt on. Material possessions get sorted out and replaced a lot easier than someone's spine or brains typically can. I'm happy to hear you had insurance ((phew))!

 

[Austin]

Cant' you rent a car and be reimbursed by the insurance company?

 

[Sluggo]

In college my car was rear-ended by a drunk driver in a jeep. How do I know it was a Jeep? Well he left his fog lights embeded in my bumper. He was able to drive away and my friends (and future wife) drove around following the trail of fluids until it ran out.

They never found him...

 

[Obsessed]

Cant' you rent a car and be reimbursed by the insurance company?

Yes, good idea - you should check on that.

 

[Spivey]

This (almost) exact thing happened to us about 2 years ago. Our "culprit" was an 18yr old driving for his dad's repo company. He tried to gun a Expedition and lost control driving our Maxima over the curb. The passenger-side rear wheel broke off completely.

Since he was driving a vehicle that had just been repo'd, our insurance company had to take the claim. Fortunately, they did. All this happened at about 4:00am. Quite a long day for me.

I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Commander Quan]

Last November a guy pulled out from a stop sign into me and hit my drivers side door. Since I was going about 35 when it happened it also scraped all the way to the back bumper. 2 new doors and a new bumper and it was good to go so I thought. The insurance co. would only pay for used doors so I had to go back 3 times to have them fixed where rust kept forming in the corners of the back door. I finally told them they had to put a different door on it or I would be back every time I saw the slightest imperfection. This was to their advantage since they were also paying for my rental every time I had to take it in. I haven't had a problem with the door since they replaced it.

 

[kongjie]

I don't understand why anyone would drive without a seatbelt on. I started driving before it was law and I used them back then. Now kids are raised in at atmosphere where it is required and yet some of them refuse to wear them.

 

[rm71]

Hope that girl is OK. Sorry to hear about your woes. That sucks big time.

 

[DunEdinRanger]

I don't understand why anyone would drive without a seatbelt on. I started driving before it was law and I used them back then. Now kids are raised in at atmosphere where it is required and yet some of them refuse to wear them.

+1

Hope she is alright and now knows to wear seatbelts. She had dogs in her car?

 

[Kratos]

Poor girl? She was driving with no seatbelt on, and more importantly, not paying attention. This is all on her. Hopefully she learned something, and her insurance company doesn't try to screw around.

 

[Luc]

That wheel is... not going anywhere...

Hopefully, no serious injuries. Good thing you were not in the car when it happened. I can understand the frustration as you got your things broken without even being there. That sucks.

As Austin mentionned, a rental might be the way to go. Check with them as they usually pay for it and it should speed up the process as they won't want to pay for that rental forever.

Touching wood, I wasn't involved in a serious crash ever but did see quite a few of them. More lately as I am working for emergency services. I didn't get to see a lot (not that I want to) but the few of those that I saw can usually be avoided 99% time!

 

[blackfoot]

Poor girl? She was driving with no seatbelt on, and more importantly, not paying attention. This is all on her. Hopefully she learned something, and her insurance company doesn't try to screw around.

Reading through this, I thought I was going to be the first to say it. I bet money stupid girl was texting on her phone. I don't want to see bad things happen to people like this girl, but they get what they deserve many times. Driving is something that is to be taken seriously. Even as a teenager, I was a careful driver. I did some stupid things, but my dad (a cop) taught me to be very aware of my surroundings. Even when he was racing me.

 

[Jethro1984]

Having just been through this myself a few months ago (hit squarely from behind at at least 35 MPH while waiting to make a left turn) and having my truck totalled, I can understand your frustration. It is very upsetting. I pursued a claim with my insurance and then transferred it to the "liable" driver's company(in Florida we are no-fault, insurance companies determine who is liable). When they severly lowballed me on the value of my truck I transferred the claim back to my company who presented me with an offer. I rejected it and requested a re-evaluation, while this took some time, I did have a rental car paid for by my insurance. I later got a better deal (though still not great) on my truck and it seemed about as good as it was going to get (close to FMV). I accepted it and bought a nice used car (08 VW Rabbit). I am now rehabbing my neck and back in Physical Therapy so be thankful you weren't in the car when this happened.

I guess the point of all this rambling is basically this: Fight for what you believe the vehicle is worth until you reach an acceptable number with the insurance. Don't sign anything you don't understand, and seek legal advice if the company starts hounding you with ridiculous demands and questions.

Good luck friend, I'm sure it will all pan out.

 

[SavantStrike]

Reading through this, I thought I was going to be the first to say it. I bet money stupid girl was texting on her phone. I don't want to see bad things happen to people like this girl, but they get what they deserve many times. Driving is something that is to be taken seriously. Even as a teenager, I was a careful driver. I did some stupid things, but my dad (a cop) taught me to be very aware of my surroundings. Even when he was racing me.

Well hang on a second before you go condemning. She could have made an honest mistake and gotten injured and it would have been a tragedy. Chances are good she was either playing with the dogs or her cell phone, but no one else was there. She did, however, make a bad decision that was no mistake. Not wearing a seat belt is a stupid thing to do, and if you die in a resulting accident it's your own fault.

If she hit the windshield with enough force to bow it outwards, there is a good chance that if she had been going another 5-10 mph faster, things would have been ugly. It doesn't take much to get thrown from a car and brained on the pavement, and it doesn't take a rocket science to put a seat belt on. For the super rare accidents that the seat belt is a detriment, I guess that must mean it was "one's time," so to speak.

 

[blackfoot]

Well hang on a second before you go condemning. She could have made an honest mistake and gotten injured and it would have been a tragedy. Chances are good she was either playing with the dogs or her cell phone, but no one else was there. She did, however, make a bad decision that was no mistake. Not wearing a seat belt is a stupid thing to do, and if you die in a resulting accident it's your own fault.

If she hit the windshield with enough force to bow it outwards, there is a good chance that if she had been going another 5-10 mph faster, things would have been ugly. It doesn't take much to get thrown from a car and brained on the pavement, and it doesn't take a rocket science to put a seat belt on. For the super rare accidents that the seat belt is a detriment, I guess that must mean it was "one's time," so to speak.

Like I said, I don't wish for bad things. But, you have to remember, I deal with this stuff every single day of my life. You get a little jaded after a while. You would be hard dressed to find anyone, Tech, Nurse or Doctor, in a ER that wouldn't feel similarly to me. You begin to lose your pity for stupidity. Like you said, she wasn't wearing her seat belt and she wasn't paying attention to the road.

 

[Kratos]

If she lied about her head hitting the windshield, you can probably set your watch by the fact that she lied about the cause of the wreck. The only thing people lie more about that having dope on them is why they caused an accident.

An instance where a belt would have been a detriment, we had not too long ago. A guy hit a concrete base so hard he uprooted the foundation. His dashboard was flush with his driver's seat. He flew out of the car and landed on someone else's hood. He survived. Lucky him.

Oh yeah, he lost his legs from the knee down. They decided they would rather stay in the car. Before you feel sorry for him, his blood-alcohol content was at near coma-inducing levels.

 

[DE7]

When I was in college about 25 years ago someone smashed into my parked 1970 Buick Skylark. The guy who hit my car put me in touch with his insurance company to start the claim process, but they later found out that he was not, in fact, covered by that company. There was some sort of issue as to whether this guy was covered by his parents' policy or not. (It was a long time ago and the details are kind of hazy.)

The bottom line is, I had to wait several weeks to verify that he was, in fact, covered by an insurance company -- ANY insurance company -- and then it took a while for them to process the claim.

It turned out okay, however. The insurance company said my car was totaled and cut me a check for the value of the vehicle -- about $700, but a lot of money to a college student. I put the money in the bank and continued to drive the car -- dents and all -- for another two years or so until the tranmission died and I junked it.

--Mike

 

[blackfoot]

If she lied about her head hitting the windshield, you can probably set your watch by the fact that she lied about the cause of the wreck. The only thing people lie more about that having dope on them is why they caused an accident.

An instance where a belt would have been a detriment, we had not too long ago. A guy hit a concrete base so hard he uprooted the foundation. His dashboard was flush with his driver's seat. He flew out of the car and landed on someone else's hood. He survived. Lucky him.

Oh yeah, he lost his legs from the knee down. They decided they would rather stay in the car. Before you feel sorry for him, his blood-alcohol content was at near coma-inducing levels.

That is the kicker. I understand people make mistakes. I have wrecked cars. But why do they always have to lie? It's your fault whether you dropped you cigarette or you were getting a BJ (Yes, true story.) Honestly, I understood the BJ story and wouldn't have thought so poorly of the guy had he just said what was going on.

That reminds me of a accident I had. My wife and I went to a concert and were on the way home when we detoured to the reservoir. It was winter and the water was down, so you could drive right out into a town that was flooded for the reservoir. Well they had blocked the road with concrete barricades since I had been there last. There was no snow but back here was a sheet of ice out of no where. I was only going like 10 MPH. I tried to aim for some small trees but didn't make it and hit a big tree.

When I called the police, i warned them it was slick. I walked up the road and waited for them at the end of the ice. I stopped the first guy and warned him. I am sure he was thinking "sure, you just wrecked and are exaggerating." But he was careful. The second car pulled up and nearly slid into the back of my truck! The first officer said, "I told you it was slick."

Turns out, the second officer was a friend of my dad's. He knew who I was right off because "I looked just like your ****-eat'n dad." A few days later, he was talking to dad and asked how my girlfriend was. Dad said no, that was my wife. Tom responded, "Well, that's what he said but we didn't believe him. No one takes their wife parking."

 

[SavantStrike]

Like I said, I don't wish for bad things. But, you have to remember, I deal with this stuff every single day of my life. You get a little jaded after a while. You would be hard dressed to find anyone, Tech, Nurse or Doctor, in a ER that wouldn't feel similarly to me. You begin to lose your pity for stupidity. Like you said, she wasn't wearing her seat belt and she wasn't paying attention to the road.

You work in an ER? Oh heavens, you're a braver soul than me. Seeing tragedies is one thing, but you're right I'm sure you see a lot of stupid things.

If she lied about her head hitting the windshield, you can probably set your watch by the fact that she lied about the cause of the wreck. The only thing people lie more about that having dope on them is why they caused an accident.

An instance where a belt would have been a detriment, we had not too long ago. A guy hit a concrete base so hard he uprooted the foundation. His dashboard was flush with his driver's seat. He flew out of the car and landed on someone else's hood. He survived. Lucky him.

Oh yeah, he lost his legs from the knee down. They decided they would rather stay in the car. Before you feel sorry for him, his blood-alcohol content was at near coma-inducing levels.

Lol I wasn't saying I didn't think she was screwing around. It's pretty hard to hit a parked car. I think I may not have been completely objective about the situation because I was in a car once where I backed into a pole (at uber low speed mind you, the bumper popped right back). There is a pretty big difference between bumping something parking, and hitting something parked though...